* Now this is poetry

Baseball poetry

WickedLocal.com, a New England outfit, ran this piece on Ernest Lawrence Thayer, creator of the classic “Casey at the Bat,” which has spaened dozens of editions and collections of parodies. This one isn’t read very well, but the video is kind of cool.

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* A Guide to Baseball Fiction

Classic title

I may have done this one before, but I came across it in my Google alerts, so here we go. Tim Morris of the University of Texas at Arlington, has compiled this massive list: This Guide to Baseball Fiction is a combination of bibliographic checklist and evaluative critical guide to over 1,000 works of baseball […]

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* Author interview: Darryl Strawberry

2009 title

Time magazine did a Q&A with the former Major Leaguer. And here’s a transcript from his April 28 appearance on Fox’s Hannity show, where he humped his new book, Straw: Finding My Way.

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* Review: Confessions of a She-Fan

2009 title

RiverAveBlues.com, the official Yankees blog of the YES Network, recently ran this review of Jane Heller’s book.

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* Non-story of the day

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

From today’s Boston Globe: “Sox: Henry is not in talks to buy The Globe”

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* Movie review: Sugar

Movies

Baseball America gave it four basket catches. More on the film: USA Today National Public Radio Variety Rotten Tomatoes An interview with the directors, on Salon.com, whose film critic calls it the “best baseball movie ever.”

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* I think that I shall never see…

2009 title

the day I turn to poetry. At least as it pertains to baseball. Although I write the weekly “Torah Haiku” for the NJ Jewish News, I generally don’t like the genre. Actually it’s not so much that I don’t like it as I don’t get it. Like wine. I probably wouldn’t be able to tell […]

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* A mile a minute? No, a book a day.

2009 title

As he did last year, Tom Hoffarth took on the arduous challenge of providing his readers of the Los Angeles Daily News with a baseball book review a day. The result is an excellent look at some of the top books on the game, as well as some that might have fallen under the radar. […]

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* Here we go again

2009 title

First it was the endless chatter about The Yankee Years. Seems the media just couldn’t keep their yaps shut about how Joe Torre dissed his players and bosses, blowing totally out of proportion thefew entries that actually addressed said topics. Well, brace yourselves, boys and girls. It’s about to happen again. When the news first […]

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* Media guide review: Los Angeles Dodgers

2009 title

One of the things I liked most about working for STATS Inc.  was going to the ballpark, having a seat waiting for me in the press box, and being treated (almost) like any veteran member of the media. That included perks such as all matter of printed material, including media guides. For those who may […]

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* Welcome to the club

2009 title

I always enjoy finding pieces on baseball lit from unexpected sources. Here’s one more. The question stemmed from a previous entry on the Alyssa Milano book.

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* Review: As They See 'Em

2009 title

The Hardball Times published this one. As usual, the reviews that come out of HBT are literate, in-depth, and well-conceived.

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* Feller still bringing the heat

2009 title

The Canton (OH) Repository ran this piece on Bob Feller and his eponymous Bob Feller’s Little Blue Book of Baseball Wisdom (not to be confused with his Little Black Book of Baseball Wisdom; what’s the next color in the series? I say red because he frequently expresses anger over the current state of the game).

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* Baseball exhibit at Newark Public Library

Annoucements

This piece on MyCentralJourney.com features an exhibit on baseball in the Garden State running through June 27. The Revival of Professional Baseball in New Jersey, an exhibit in the second-floor gallery of the Main Library, 5 Washington Street, Newark, highlights the return of baseball as a community activity in New Jersey, and encompasses every one […]

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* A matter of interpretation

2009 title

This entry on Officiating.com refers George F. Will’s column on Bruce Weber’s new book, As They See ‘Em. Strictly speaking, it is not, as the title asserts, a paean for umpires, but rather dap for the book.

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* Shh. Maybe they won't notice.

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

It’s no secret that newspapers are in a bad way. That includes the sports department, and by extension, baseball writers. Some publications have cut staff, others cutting back by sending writers on fewer road trips, opting to take stories from other sources. Techdirt ran this piece on the situation, referring to this article from The […]

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* Review: Yogi Berra, Eternal Yankee

2009 title

By Jim Kaplan in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Upshot: Finally, a biography that does justice to the intelligence and might of baseball’s greatest catcher.

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* This week in Sports Illustrated

Magazines

The cover story of the May 4 issue features Joe Posnanski’s profile of Royals’ ace Zack Greinke. Other baseball items include a look at the Dodgers; high school  no-hitters and how they do (or don’t) predict pro success; a little girl who was perfect against the boys; and an essay wondering if baseball fans shouldn’t […]

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* Resource: Baseball America 2009 book list

2009 title

BA also puts out an annual list of baseball titles.

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* Resource: Greg Spira's list of 2009 titles

2009 title

See previous entry. I am reproducing the Herculean effort of our friend Greg Spira of 2009 titles, as posted on the SABR list-serve today. There are almost 140 titles here (see his caveats) so you will all forgive me if I don’t follow my usual formatting style. The only knock is that he does not […]

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